[In the October 22, 2010 issue, there was an item from Meg Urry and Joan Schmelz about Student-Professor dating that included Yale's policy -- eds.]

The post concerning Yale's policy on Student-Professor dating contained the following statement:

Undergraduate students are particularly vulnerable to the unequal institutional power inherent in the teacher-student relationship and the potential for coercion, because of their age and relative lack of maturity. Therefore, no teacher shall have a sexual or amorous relationship with any undergraduate student, regardless of whether the teacher currently exercises or expects to have any pedagogical or supervisory responsibilities over that student.

This statement as written assumes that all undergraduate students are roughly 18-22, and entirely ignores the existence of nontraditional students who may be returning to school as undergraduates later in life, after having taken time off to bear and raise children, or serve in the military, or work for a few years to save enough money for college.

Whether or not a blanket policy against teachers dating undergraduate students is imposed, it would be nice if the language of the policy acknowledged the existence of such students.

Back to top.2. Encouraging Men to Advocate for Women in AstronomyFrom: Ed Bertschinger_at_women_in_astronomy_blog

Men have an important role to play in promoting gender equity broadly in astronomy and other gender-imbalanced fields. I was impressed by the commitment of a few male colleagues whom I saw at Women in Astronomy III last fall and would like to see more like them. Those who work for improving the climate, work-life balance, career advancement and opportunities for women find not only find great personal satisfaction, but will enjoy competitive advantage in finding and recruiting outstanding colleagues to work with.

Some of my greatest pleasures this past year have come from working with a group of extraordinary MIT women faculty in planning for a major symposium celebrating women in science and engineering on the occasion of MIT's 150th anniversary. In addition to organizing the conference, we are preparing updates of the 1999 and 2002 reports on the status of women faculty in science and other areas at MIT. Getting to know Nancy Hopkins and other members of the National Academy of Science, and to work with them in ways that celebrate and improve the status of women, has been thrilling for me. I highly recommend such activities to anyone who wants to make a difference.

How can women encourage men to get involved? Just do it! Certainly all academic leaders should be encouraged to meet with women students and faculty and to learn about the steps they should take to improve their organizations. Most male faculty members will take seriously requests and concerns raised by students and will react positively to encouragement that they and their department be more aware of and supportive of climate, good mentoring, etc. Men benefit from encouragement just as women do. When I met with a group of female graduate students several years ago and asked, with some dismay, how I could make a difference given all the problems that existed, their words of simple encouragement had great impact. I carry them in my heart always.

As another follow-up to the AASWomen special edition on the low percentages of women invited speakers at astronomy meetings (25 Jun 2010), CSWA has expanded the table given in the issue of Oct. 8 and published a list of 21 recent conferences and workshops here:

For comparison, the page also lists demographic information gathered by CSWA members.

Additions to this list are still needed. We have two constraints: (1) this list is for INVITED speakers only (not public lecturers, contributed speakers, session chairs, etc.); (2) you need to identify the gender of 100% of the invited speakers (for names that are ambiguous and unfamiliar, a Google search usually helps). Please send the information needed for each column in the table, if possible along with a link to the conference web site, to the CSWA webmaster, Nancy Morrison, NMorris_at_UTNet.UToledo.Edu .

Back to top.4. Tenure-Track Faculty Positions at MITFrom: WIPHYS, November 4, 2010

Deadline is November 19, 2010

The Physics Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( http://web.mit.edu/physics ) invites applications for faculty positions in a wide range of areas in physics and astronomy. Faculty members at MIT conduct research, teach undergraduate and graduate physics courses, and supervise graduate and undergraduate participation in research. Candidates must show promise in teaching as well as in research. Preference will be given to applicants at the Assistant Professor level.

Back to top.5. Assistant Professor of Astrophysics, University of Missouri From: WIPHYS, November 4, 2010

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri ( http://www.physics.missouri.edu ) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in astrophysics that will begin September 1, 2011. The position requires a Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience and is at the Assistant Professor level, with competitive salary and start-up funds.

While we are particularly interested in qualified applicants with expertise in extragalactic infrared/sub-millimeter astrophysics, outstanding candidates in any areas of astrophysics are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate is expected to establish an externally funded, vigorous research program, be committed to excellence in teaching at all levels, and to contribute to the expansion of the astrophysics program at the University of Missouri.

The Physics amp; Astronomy Department has four astrophysics faculty whose research interests include many observational and theoretical aspects of interstellar and circum-stellar matter in our own galaxy and beyond, planetary disks and comets, as well as laboratory studies of cosmic dust analogs. We also have active research programs in general relativity, relativistic astrophysics and cosmology, in addition to a burgeoning and very active astronomy education research program.